Posts by Dennis Nguyen78

10 posts shown.

The media is absolutely losing it over the USA in Close to Politics · Jul 1, 2013

Media bias isn't exactly a new phenomenon, but the absolute state of siege Chicago experienced yesterday was nothing short of unforgivable...
For days, the news outlets have been droning on about how traffic in Downtown Chicago would be rerouted or blocked off. Fine. I get it.
But that’s not what actually happened! People are absolutely livid today, especially those who were actually trying to earn a living... For instance, you couldn't even get from the West Side over to the Brooklyn Industrial Park. A shop clerk I know who commutes from Aurora started her morning at Santa Monica and couldn't even make it home by tonight... she ended up crashing at a friend's place. 😢
And you won't hear a single word about that on the news. The organizers completely ignored these consequences and just swept them under the rug. 😕
It honestly feels like Chicago just isn't the kind of city that should host a parade like this. We don't have an underground network to hide in, and we certainly shouldn't be held hostage by people who are just here to snap photos and eat free food...
If they want to gather, they can go to Fort Worth or maybe one of those old estates out in Appalachia. Leave the few people still working out of this mess; they shouldn't be facing threats from their bosses just because they're late due to circumstances totally out of their control. 🤷
I wasn't working today, but my heart goes out to everyone wandering aimlessly through deserted streets after a ten-hour Sunday shift, having no idea how to navigate the chaos.
It's pathetic and downright disrespectful of the organizers.👎

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Remember Dolly Parton? in Movies · Jan 14, 2007

Paul Lee11 said:For me, this is easily the best movie from our part of the world, especially with that little bit of soul provided by Ademir Kenovica.

Hell yes.😲
That "little bit of soul" is actually my absolute favorite... It feels like the film doesn't hold any special status, or rather, people rarely bring it up in conversation.
I'm just glad I'm not losing my mind here. 😎

My apologies for not mentioning Dolly earlier.😳

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How to change someone's mind (or worldview)... in Psychology · Jan 12, 2007

Rebecca Cox2 said:Is there actually anything in this world capable of forcing you to radically shift your entire worldview? Because if the answer is NO, how on earth can you expect anyone else to change their mind?

You basically just took the words right out of my mouth...
Looking at everyday life, and especially the way people act here on this forum, human reasoning seems incredibly bipolar. It’s always one extreme or the other—you’re either all-in for the President or the CEO, or you’re completely against them. You're either pro-steak or anti-meat. There is almost nobody left who is moderate or even willing to sit down, listen, and actually process an opposing argument...
It feels like it’s always been this way, too. Reformers, scientists, plantation owners, conservatives... they all emerge with clearly defined enemies ready to fight.
So, I really want to know: is this just hardwired into our DNA, or is this tribalism something we've built up over time as our primary way of communicating?

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Are vegetarians actually smarter? in Psychology · Jan 10, 2007

unknown

wearygardener13 said:Look, are you seriously playing dumb? The meat we eat is fundamentally the same thing as the plants we consume—they are both just dead remains of a once-living organism. Call it a carcass or whatever helps you sleep at night, but your obsession prevents you from admitting you're wrong about this. 👍

I am truly not being delusional here. 😘
If you had bothered to read the older threads more carefully, maybe you wouldn't be so confused... very few people among my colleagues or acquaintances actually understand this. It’s mostly just family and close friends. I don't hide it—heaven forbid—but I don't carry it around like a badge of shame or play the victim either.
And I'm not playing dumb. The word "carcass" carries weight for a reason. Sure, withered vegetation is sad, but there isn't a specific, heavy term for it; the closest thing would be a "still life." But that's a completely different conversation, and honestly, we've veered way too far off track here.
Thanks for listening. 😘

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Are vegetarians actually smarter? in Psychology · Jan 10, 2007

unknown

wearygardener13 unknown said:Man, you all might want to go grab a dictionary before we continue this. 🙄

From a purely biological standpoint, it’s exactly the same thing—you're just looking at the dead remains of a killed organism. 👍

Now you’re suddenly blaming the dictionary? Give me a break.
I honestly don't know where to start with this. It feels like we're constantly losing the ability to actually communicate because everyone expects a magic button to do the thinking for them. You can't just walk around expecting the world to provide a complete vocabulary on demand. It’s about effort. It’s about building that mental foundation so you aren't left grasping at straws when you're trying to make a point. I remember sitting in an English lit seminar back in college—it was grueling, let me tell you—and the professor used to say that if you don't own your words, someone else will own you. That sticks with me. We need to stop looking for shortcuts and start doing the actual work of learning how to express ourselves properly. m I’ve been spending far too much time lately digging through various linguistic datasets—essentially collections of words and phrases pulled from one or multiple languages—to try and make sense of how they actually function in the wild. It isn't just about a list of vocabulary; it’s about the nuances of usage and the specific contexts that give a phrase its weight. Honestly, it’s exhausting. You spend hours dissecting why a certain idiom works in an American dialect but falls completely flat when you try to apply it elsewhere. It’s like trying to explain the rules of baseball to someone who has never even seen a diamond. One minute you think you’ve mastered the syntax, and the next, you realize you've missed the subtle implication that changes the entire meaning of a sentence. It reminds me of a project I worked on back in Chicago. We were trying to categorize consumer feedback, and we kept running into these linguistic walls where the literal translation was useless because the "feeling" behind the words was lost. You can have all the definitions in the world, but if you don't understand the cultural shorthand, you're just guessing. That's what this whole endeavor feels like right now. It’s more than just definitions; it’s about decoding the logic behind how people actually communicate.

Well, you tell me—do you honestly think they believe we can just bend the meaning to our will whenever it suits us?☕

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Are vegetarians actually smarter? in Psychology · Jan 10, 2007

wearygardener13 said:Is a dead plant really considered a carcass?

well, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary:
a carcass is the dead body of an animal; a corpse or remains
☕

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Are vegetarians actually smarter? in Psychology · Jan 6, 2007

Rachel Martinez11 said:Wouldn't you rather just enjoy a mushroom and corn pizza instead of eating an animal that was slaughtered, regardless of how "humane" they claim the process is? Or maybe just some pasta with tomato sauce, parmesan, and olives.

What are you even talking about? I eat those kinds of pizzas all the time... I haven't touched meat in ten years.
As for whether I "prefer" one over the other—honestly, I haven't given it a second thought.
I have much bigger problems on my plate lately, but I'll leave that for a discussion about nature or move it to a private message...

And I should add that I completely disagree with the claim in the headline... I really don't feel particularly intelligent or superior in any way, shape, or form.

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Are vegetarians actually smarter? in Psychology · Jan 6, 2007

restlesscobra132 said:It would be fine if we were hunting an animal, but not in a way where we just kill it and devour it. I mean, something more subtle... establishing a relationship where the animal actually surrenders itself to the hunter... hmm, I don't know if you get what I'm saying, and honestly, I'm not even sure myself what I'm trying to express. QUOTE]

I think I follow your logic...
Personally, I might even reconsider going back to a meat-based diet if there was a legitimate alternative to the standard industrial factory farms and massive slaughterhouses we have now...
For instance, I really respect how Kosher dietary laws work—they prioritize such extreme purity, and when it comes to animal products, the goal is to ensure the process is as painless as possible for the creature. I also find the way Native Americans approach life quite moving; they have this deep reverence for nature and everything within it. If they have to take a life to survive, they do it with dignity, offering thanks to the animal for sustaining them. So, here's my take: the idea of one living being consuming another isn't something I can wrap my head around, but the reality of breeding it, feeding it, watching it grow, and then slaughtering it just for a single meal? That feels absolutely barbaric to me...

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Volver (I'm Coming Back) in Movies · Dec 9, 2006

I honestly can't put my finger on why, but *Volver* just didn't do it for me. I was actually looking forward to this one quite a bit—I’m a huge fan of Pedro Almodóvar's work—but the whole movie felt incredibly lukewarm. Just totally flat.😕
It’s just so shallow and predictable... honestly, it doesn't even come close to the depth of "Talk to Her," and it certainly can't touch my absolute favorite, "All About My Mother."😍
Honestly, I feel for you. I’d love to be able to share that kind of enthusiasm myself, but it's just not happening for me.😢

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The Sea Inside in Movies · Apr 3, 2005

Powerful. Truly, deeply moving... and for the record, I’m not exactly known as a crybaby, but goddammit, I was sobbing my eyes out during that movie.😳 I was sitting there in a theater packed with fifty other people, and I find it hard to believe anyone could walk away from this feeling indifferent.😲 But hey, we all react differently to different stimuli, right?
The cinematography, the score, even the casting—take Manuela, for example😍. She reminded me so much of my aunt back home who sells artisanal cheese; she just captured that sense of being completely selfless, exhausted, yet incredibly tender.
And those flight sequences? They were so visceral I felt like I was actually soaring, almost like I could feel the G-force pulling at me. And then you have people claiming this is "just" Sci-Fi.🙂
Give me a break. Since when does art have to be rational or grounded in reality? Please. They tried to beat that illusion out of us back in high school art theory class, but they failed.😉

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